Villa Osun – Luxury Villa in Terres Basses, Sint Maarten

From the road, Villa Osun is mostly hidden, a wide colonial house with a distinctive green metal roof tucked into the vegetation of Terres Basses. The views open up once you are inside: the infinity pool runs along the upper terrace, and the whole of Simpson Bay Lagoon stretches out below, with the hills and cays of Sint Maarten on the far side. At dusk the lights of Marigot and the Dutch coast reflect across the water. It is a four-bedroom house for up to eight.

The main living space is essentially a glass room: floor-to-ceiling bifold doors run the full length of the dining and lounge area, dissolving the line between inside and out. A long teak table seats ten, and the kitchen behind it is equipped for serious cooking. The four bedrooms are calm and uncluttered by contrast, with white walls, natural timber furniture, and clean lines that let the view carry the room. Stone-tiled bathrooms with rain showers open onto private garden balconies.

The grounds are spacious and well-shaded, mature trees giving cover through the day, and the pool terrace is placed to make the most of the panorama. Osun sits ten minutes from Marigot and fifteen from Philipsburg, with Baie Longue and Baie Rouge beach access under ten minutes from the front gate.

For dinner, La Main a la Pate on the Marigot marina waterfront does French cooking with the boats for a view, about ten minutes down the hill, and our concierge can book the table, sort a car, and stock the kitchen before you arrive.

Low-season weeks start at $5,460 for the four bedrooms. The best hour is dusk on the upper terrace, the bifold doors folded fully open, the lagoon below turning to glass as Marigot starts to light up across the water.